The new United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator (RC), Mr. Mohamed Malick Fall has assured the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of the full cooperation of his Office to improve the promotion and protection of human rights in Nigeria.
The UN Envoy who stated this in Abuja on Tuesday when he led his team in a familiarization visit to the NHRC assured the Commission of a better and improved working relationship that would enhance the enjoyment of human rights in the Country.
According to the RC, the NHRC has been enjoying outstanding collaborations and awesome relationships with the UN and that he does not have any other plan or intention than to boost the collaboration and bring the partnership to new heights.
The High-ranking UN Official said that the core mandate of the UN revolves around development, humanitarian work and peacebuilding, adding that "advancing such human rights agenda is not an option" but something we must undertake.
He therefore restated the readiness of the UN to collaborate with the Commission to address issues about Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Women, Children and Vulnerable Group among several others.
The RC observed that Nigeria is strategic to the realisation of human rights on the African Continent and beyond considering its size, land mass and demography, saying that if Nigeria succeeds it will impact on the rest of the African region and the International Community at large.
Earlier, the Executive Secretary National Human Rights Commission, Dr. Tony Ojukwu OFR, SAN who welcomed the RC and his entourage listed some of the major interventions of the NHRC to address human rights violations in the Country.
The Chief Human Rights Officer of Nigeria informed the delegation that the Commission had earlier set up four panels of investigation to tackle the emerging human rights issues across the Nation.
The panels, the Executive Secretary stated, are two panels on Special Anti-Robber Squad (SARS) of the Nigeria Police Force (2018 and 2020), Special Independent Investigation Panel on Sexual and Gender-Based Violence and Special Independent Investigative Panel on Human Rights Violations in Counter-Insurgency Operations in North East, Nigeria.
The Executive Secretary told the visiting RC and his team that with the collaboration of Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), the Commission established a call centre for easy access to the Commission. The UNSUB Platform was also established to eased human rights complaint reporting mechanisms including cases of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence.
Similarly, the Human Rights Adviser to the Executive Secretary, Mr Hilary Ogbonna told the RC that the Commission has several ongoing human rights projects, pointing out that the major challenge has always been funding.
He told the RC that the Commission is willing to partner with UN towards improving on the existing projects and establishing new ones to further enhance human rights protection in the Country.
The new RC has more than 20 years of experience in development work, humanitarian concerns, and peacebuilding.
Mr. Fall, a Senegalese was appointed as RC by the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres in February 2024 following the expiration of the tenure of his predecessor, Mr Mathias Schemale in December 2023.
